Can't Easily Forget
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day three hundred and thirty-one: Shelby's got plans for this new life of hers... a job... a house, a garden...


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 15th cycle. Now cycle 16!_

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**"Can't Easily Forget"  
Shelby & Beth  
Sequel to "Solid Ground", "Baby Steps", and "In the most unexpected ways"  
A/N: Sorry for the delay, I'm sick :( Stupid cold... **

She had found her rhythm, for her and Beth. As much as motherhood had come by her so very suddenly, she'd found her footing all on her own with her little girl. It was easy… she was easy, real trooper… She'd say she was her ray of sunshine. Having quit her job with Vocal Adrenaline, she had all the time in the world to be warmed by her… And for a while she was satisfied not thinking about anything else…

Then she'd gone and started missing something, not necessarily Vocal Adrenaline, just… having some kind of job. She needed something to come home to Beth from. She realized it would be hard to leave her behind again, but it just needed to be done, for both of them. And it wasn't the only change she saw herself making. She'd said it to Rachel, and she meant it.

She'd already started the process of looking for a new home for them. As much as she'd developed some attachment to her overnight nursery, for the new beginning it represented, she knew she would make something special there, too. This would be the room and the house she'd remember. If that wasn't worth parting with her little apartment, she didn't know what was.

One day she'd put Beth in her car seat and they had driven off to check out a number of places she'd set up viewing appointments for. As they drove, Shelby would continue that other big question, the job. She knew she wanted a fresh start, but the definition of it… that was another matter. She wasn't going to go and work in an office, and she didn't have the patience to work in a store… and she wasn't about to backpedal and be a waitress… again. She was an educator; no matter what, this was something she couldn't let go of.

The first house had a bad feel about it from the start, and when they went inside this was confirmed… She was all for a little fixing up, but there were limits to the amount of 'fixing' she could work up, especially with a baby in the house. The second visit had ended before it had really started, as Shelby had met the man who would have been her neighbor… This was not going to happen. She was beginning to see this like a bad run of auditions, where one after the other she was promised a superstar and instead got a dud. Now she just needed that shy little thing with the killer talent just waiting to be let out to shine.

The third house was smaller than the previous two, but the moment she'd seen it Shelby had felt something. She couldn't put it into words, it was all in her gut. Baby and car seat in hand, she had gone to meet the real estate agent at the door and they'd gone inside. Her gut reacted still more as she stepped through the threshold. There were a couple of things that would need fixing here, yes, but it was nothing she couldn't deal with.

The tour took them upstairs, to see the bedrooms… The second nursery would be just as good as the first, yes. And it was from that window that she saw the backyard, and within it another of her wishes… There was a garden, or at least space for one… She looked down to the car seat… Beth was asleep. To Shelby, this was a sign; she was at peace in this place… it would be their home, yes it would.

The papers would be signed in the following days. But her journey wasn't done on that day. In passing, the real estate agent had asked what Shelby did for a living. Without a pause needed, she had declared herself as teacher, choir director. The woman had then mentioned her daughter's school was looking for a music teacher.

"What school is that?" Shelby had asked.

It was an elementary school, not far from the house. On the way back home, Shelby had passed in front of it, and she stopped. She looked to the building, from her seat in the car, and she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as she thought. It wasn't exactly what most people would see her as, she imagined. To go from leading a nationally ranked show choir to leading children on their first musical steps… But the more she sat there, considering it, the more it made sense inside her. It felt right, to her, to the others could just think what they wanted.

She applied for the job the same day she signed the papers on the house. And just a few days later, as her apartment was now being shown, she got the call… the job was hers. She breathed out, nodding. All the pieces of her new life were falling into place. It was happening so fast, so easily… She'd say, in later years how it was a lucky streak, started by getting Beth. Now she just had one more thing to do... the last unchecked box on her 'new life' wish list. It all came down to one choice…

Small dog or big dog?

THE END

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**_[A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, story alert won't get you anything! ;)]_**


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